So what will it come down to this time? A fourth-and-1 attempt in overtime? A missed field-goal attempt? A 90-yard touchdown drive? Two late defensive stands?

Each of the past four games between the New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons has been decided by three points, so why should Monday night’s showdown at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome be different?

As has become the norm, these longtime rivals will meet with an awful lot on the line. The Saints (11-3) can clinch the NFC South Division and stay alive for the conference’s No. 2 seed. The Falcons (9-5) can clinch a playoff spot and stay alive in the division title race.

“We already know emotionally we don’t have to get up for this game,” New Orleans linebacker Jonathan Vilma said. “It’s probably going to be about trying to calm your emotions so we can function, so we can do the things we need to do to win this game. It’s a huge game for both sides. … It’s going to be a great battle and a lot of fun.”

Even without the playoff implications, this would be a huge game for both sides.

This rivalry, which dates to the 1960s, has never been more intense, and both teams are in the midst of the greatest extended runs in their franchises’ histories.

The Saints have won 11 games or more for three consecutive seasons, and the Falcons have put together four straight winning seasons after never having done it twice in a row before.

New Orleans has won nine of the past 11 games since Coach Sean Payton arrived in 2006, but those wins haven’t come easily in recent years.

The past six games in the series have been decided by eight points or less, including the Saints’ 26-23 overtime victory at Atlanta on Nov. 13, which was ultimately decided by New Orleans’ fourth-and-1 stop in Falcons territory in overtime.

In September of 2010, Garrett Hartley missed a 29-yard field goal attempt in overtime that would have won the game, and Matt Bryant kicked a 46-yarder as the Falcons won 27-24.

Later that season, the Saints drove 90 yards late in the fourth quarter, capped by a 6-yard pass from quarterback Drew Brees to tight end Jimmy Graham, to win 17-14.

In their second meeting of 2009, Vilma stopped Jason Snelling on a pass from Chris Redman on a fourth-and-2 as the Saints held on for a 26-23 win. Vilma also had an interception with 3:55 to go.

Saints receiver Lance Moore said Monday night’s game is mostly important because it’s the “next game” and because of all the playoff implications, but he did admit that there’s something special about games against Atlanta.

“It’s a divisional game, so we’re familiar with one another, and neither team wants to lose to the other. That’s just how it is,” Moore said. “People can call it bragging rights or whatever, but we’re focused on just letting it be one game. We can’t make it bigger than it is. It’s an extremely important game, but we can’t put any extra pressure or any stress on ourselves. I mean, we’ve just got to go out and play.”

Vilma pointed out that Monday night’s game will be the exact reverse of last season, when the Saints went to Atlanta for a Monday night game in Week 16 and won 20-17 to keep their longshot hopes alive for the NFC South title.

Moore said he hopes the similarities end there, with the home team winning this time.

“They’re a real good team,” Saints Coach Sean Payton said. “Every time it seems we play them it comes down to a last possession or field goal. We’ve just played so many close games, so many hard-fought games, that it’s a sign that typically both teams are pretty evenly matched, very competitive and very good.”

Like the Saints, the Falcons seem to be playing their best football after an inconsistent start. They’ve stayed alive in the NFC South race by winning seven of their past nine games, including two in a row. And their last victory was their most impressive, a 41-14 rout of the Jacksonville Jaguars last Thursday night.

The Saints are even hotter, though, having won six in a row, and they are tied with the New England Patriots for the NFL’s longest active streak.

New Orleans’ 42-20 victory at Minnesota on Sunday was dominant despite some early miscues. The Saints have been even better at home, though, especially in prime time. Their past two home games were a 31-17 victory over the Detroit Lions on Sunday night in Week 13 and a 49-24 victory over the New York Giants on Monday night in Week 12.

Before defeating the Vikings, Payton pointed out to his team that they hadn’t won a Week 15 game since 2007. They steamrolled through that roadblock this season, which he said is significant because teams want to peak heading into the playoffs.

“You’d like to be hitting your stride and playing your best football,” said Payton, though he pointed out that the Saints were the exception to that rule when they lost their final three regular-season games in 2009 before winning Super Bowl XLIV. “You still recognize the importance of playing well here. I think you’re seeing some teams that are doing it, and you’re seeing some teams that maybe aren’t doing it as well. Fortunately for us, we’ve been able to get on a pretty good run, and we hope to continue it.”

EYE ON THE 49ERS: The Saints are openly rooting against the San Francisco 49ers (11-3), who need to lose one more game to allow New Orleans a shot at the No. 2 seed in the NFC.

Vilma was asked if he watched the 49ers’ 20-3 victory over the visiting Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday night.

“I was all for watching it closely until Ben (Roethlisberger) threw those two interceptions early in the game, and then I realized I was bad luck, so I went and watched Sherlock Holmes,” Vilma said.

And when Moore was asked what he wants for Christmas besides a victory over the Falcons, he said: “A win by Seattle over San Francisco (on Saturday) would be good.”

‘DIRTY’ TALK: Vilma and Payton said they’re unfazed by recent accusations from other teams that their defense plays “dirty.”

Payton compared it to the whistle-blowing accusations from the Tennessee Titans last week, and Vilma said whether the accusations are fair or unfair, “it really doesn’t bother me.”

“You know, we’re an aggressive defense, we’ve always been an aggressive defense. I’d rather be labeled that than labeled a finesse defense,” Vilma said. “So I know we’re not out there maliciously trying to hurt anybody. If you’ve seen the way we play, if you’ve seen our games, we go hard — and that’s really about it. If we get a personal foul here or there it’s not intentional, and I know we’re not trying to hurt people.”

VILMA’S HEALTH: Vilma, who has been fighting through a knee injury since having a clean-up surgery performed last month, was asked how he has been feeling.

“The best I can say is good enough,” said Vilma, who said he plans to keep playing through it for the rest of the season. “I got to do what I got to do.”

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. (AP) — Atlanta Falcons cornerback Brent Grimes has been ruled out of Sunday’s game at Carolina while he recovers from minor knee surgery.

Grimes had surgery on his right knee last week and is expected to miss two to four games. Dominique Franks could make his second straight in the Falcons’ banged-up secondary.

Another cornerback, Kelvin Hayden, has missed two straight games with a toe injury. And safety William Moore hasn’t played the last four weeks because of a quadriceps and groin injury. Coach Mike Smith says “when you’re dealing with two major muscle groups, you want to make sure that he’s ready to go before we put him back out there.”

When Moore returns, he’ll have to win back his job from James Sanders.

Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

AP Photo/David J. Phillip

Houston Texans quarterback T.J. Yates (13) reacts after rushing for a gain and coming up short of a first down as Atlanta Falcons free safety Thomas DeCoud (28) looks on in the fourth quarter of an NFL football game on Sunday, Dec. 4, 2011, in Houston.

No matter how many obstacles the Houston Texans face, they keep finding ways to overcome them.
On Sunday rookie quarterback T.J. Yates led them to their franchise-record sixth straight win with a 17-10 victory over the Atlanta Falcons.
Yates threw a touchdown pass in his first NFL start, Arian Foster rushed for 111 yards and Houston (9-3) kept rolling despite another injury to Andre Johnson.
“It’s a great win because of everything this team has been through,” coach Gary Kubiak said. “We found a way to win.”
The Texans’ success is remarkable considering they’re down to their third-string quarterback and have played many of their games without their star receiver.
The Falcons (7-5) sputtered offensively most of the game in losing for the second time in seven games. Houston’s top-ranked defense knocked down two passes by Matt Ryan in the end zone in the closing seconds.
“(The win) is big because it proves a lot because of the adversity we went through,” linebacker Brian Cushing said. “Coming in here with your No. 3 quarterback against a defense like that and playing an offense like that, I think it really says a lot about our team.”
Yates went 12 for 25 for 188 yards without an interception, an impressively poised performance after a dizzying week.
The fifth-round pick was thrust into his pro debut last week in Jacksonville when Matt Leinart broke his collarbone. Leinart was starting in place of Matt Schaub, who broke his right foot in Houston’s previous game.
The 24-year-old Yates went 8 for 15 for 70 yards in his earlier-than-expected debut against the Jaguars. He was sacked three times by the Falcons, but never looked overwhelmed.
Yates took a hard hit from John Abraham early in the third quarter, but Abraham was disappointed that they weren’t able to disrupt him more.
“It was our fault for not getting him down,” Abraham said. “We got a few good pressures on him. But there’s a difference between making him move and making him take hits and getting him on the ground. We didn’t get him on the ground that much. He did a good job.”
Johnson looked like he’d be Yates’ go-to guy early, making leaping catches on the quarterback’s first two completions. The All-Pro receiver also atoned for an earlier drop by pulling in a perfect 50-yard pass from Yates to the Atlanta 5 in the second quarter.
Yates then snapped a quick pass to tight end Joel Dreessen for his first career TD, and chants of “T.J.! T.J.!” emerged from the capacity crowd.
“I was studying my butt off all week long,” Yates said, “and it paid off.”
Naturally, the Texans couldn’t make it through a game without more adversity.
Johnson left in the third quarter after hurting his left hamstring. He injured his right hamstring in Week 4, had minor surgery and sat out six games.
Kubiak said after the game that he was told the injury was not severe, but he couldn’t be certain until Johnson has tests on Monday.
“I know it’s not as bad as the last injury I had, but I’m definitely worried about it,” Johnson said. “It just didn’t feel right.”
After Johnson went down, Foster took over the offensive load, carrying 10 times on Houston’s decisive drive. Foster scored on a 1-yard run with 6:05 left, and then it was up to the Texans’ defense to finish.
Atlanta got the ball back with 59 seconds left, and Ryan threw a deep pass to Julio Jones to the Texans 25. But Ryan overthrew Roddy White in one corner of the end zone and Kareem Jackson swatted away a pass to Jones in the other corner as time expired.
“I had the opportunity to make that play and I just had to come up with the catch at the end,” Jones said.
Ryan completed 20 of 46 passes for 267 yards with two touchdowns, but also threw two interceptions. The Texans have intercepted a pass in 11 consecutive games.
“We played in spurts,” Atlanta coach Mike Smith said. “We didn’t do the things we wanted to accomplish. We had way too many dropped footballs, way too many things that we normally don’t do.”
After Johnson went down, Foster kept Houston on track, converting a fourth-and-1 with a 7-yard run to the Atlanta 2. The Texans took more than 10 minutes off the clock with the decisive, 19-play drive, which tied a team record.
Notes: Sunday was the ninth game this season in which the Texans have held an opponent under 20 points. … Tony Gonzalez has a catch in 175 consecutive games, the league’s longest active streak. The tight end also reached 60 receptions for the 13th consecutive season, an NFL record. … The Texans had a positive turnover ratio (plus-1) for the eighth time in 12 games. … Houston has already matched its highest single-season win total (9-7 in 2009).

HOUSTON (AP) — Houston coach Gary Kubiak would’ve told anyone who asked that the Texans were going to be fine with rookie
T.J. Yates playing quarterback.

He was right.

Yates threw a touchdown pass in his first NFL start,
Arian Foster
rushed for 111 yards and Houston overcame another injury to
Andre Johnson
to beat Atlanta 17-10 on Sunday.

The Texans (9-3) have won a franchise-record six straight games, a remarkable feat considering they’re down to their third-string
quarterback and have played many of their games without their star receiver.

The Falcons (7-5) sputtered offensively most of the game in losing for the second time in seven games. Houston’s top-ranked
defense knocked down two passes by
Matt Ryan
in the end zone in the closing seconds.

Kubiak couldn’t bear to watch the final play, turning his back and walking down the sideline. When the ball hit the turf and
the crowd cheered, general manager Rick Smith told Kubiak what happened and patted him on the back.

“It’s a great win,” Kubiak said, “because of everything this team has been through.”

Yates went 12-for-25 for 188 yards without an interception, an impressively poised performance after a dizzying week.

“I test my guys the night before every game,” Kubiak said, “and when I tested him, I was so impressed. I went in there and
told the whole team, ‘I wish you could have been in there. He is ready to play.”‘

The fifth-round pick was thrust into his pro debut last week in Jacksonville when
Matt Leinart
broke his collarbone. Leinart was starting in place of
Matt Schaub
, who broke a Lisfranc joint in his right foot in Houston’s previous game.

The 24-year-old Yates went 8-for-15 for 70 yards in his earlier-than-expected debut against the Jaguars. He was sacked three
times by the Falcons, but never looked overwhelmed.

“I was extremely comfortable out there,” Yates said. “Coach Kubiak, throughout the week, we had a lot of talks and he instilled
a lot of confidence in me.”

Offensive coordinator Rick Dennison and quarterbacks coach Greg Knapp worked day and night preparing Yates for the Falcons’
ninth-ranked defense. When Kubiak quizzed Yates at the end of the week, he knew the rookie was ready.

“The job they did with that kid in the quarterback room was tremendous,” Kubiak said. “It’s been a heck of a challenge. T.J.
held up his end of the bargain well.”

Johnson looked like he’d be Yates’ go-to guy early, making leaping catches on the quarterback’s first two completions. The
All-Pro receiver also atoned for an earlier drop by pulling in a perfect 50-yard pass from Yates to the Atlanta 5 in the second
quarter.

Yates then snapped a quick pass to tight end
Joel Dreessen
for his first career TD, and chants of “T.J.! T.J.!” emerged from the capacity crowd.

“I was studying my butt off all week long,” Yates said, “and it paid off.”

Naturally, the Texans couldn’t make it through a game without more adversity.

Johnson left in the third quarter after hurting his left hamstring. He injured his right hamstring in Week 4, underwent minor
surgery and sat out six games.

Kubiak said after the game that he was told the injury was not severe, but he couldn’t be certain until Johnson underwent
tests on Monday.

“I don’t think you ever know about the hamstrings until the next day,” Kubiak said.

After Johnson went down, Foster ably took over the offensive load, carrying 10 times on Houston’s decisive drive.

Yates got lucky on his worst throw of the game, a pass to Foster that linebacker
Mike Peterson
intercepted and returned for an apparent touchdown on the second play of the fourth quarter.

But cornerback
Dunta Robinson
and linebacker
Sean Weatherspoon
were both called for defensive holding and the Texans retained possession.

Foster kept the drive going with a 12-yard scamper and finished the 19-play march with a 1-yard run with 6:05 left.

Then it was up to the Texans’ defense to finish.

Atlanta got the ball back with 59 seconds left, and Ryan threw a deep pass to
Julio Jones
to the Texans 25. But Ryan overthrew
Roddy White
in one corner of the end zone and
Kareem Jackson
swatted away a pass to Jones in the other corner as time expired.

“I had the opportunity to make that play and I just had to come up with the catch at the end,” Jones said.

Ryan completed 20 of 46 passes for 267 yards with two touchdowns, but also threw two interceptions. The Texans have intercepted
a pass in 11 consecutive games.

“We played in spurts,” Atlanta coach
Mike Smith
said. “We didn’t do the things we wanted to accomplish. We had way too many dropped footballs, way too many things that we
normally don’t do.”

After Johnson went down, Foster kept Houston on track, converting a fourth-and-1 with a 7-yard run to the Atlanta 2. The Texans
took more than 10 minutes off the clock with the decisive, 19-play drive, which tied a team record.

Notes: Atlanta allowed a 100-yard rusher for the first time in 15 games. … Gonzalez has a catch in 175 consecutive games,
the league’s longest active streak. Gonzalez also reached 60 receptions for the 13th consecutive season, an NFL record. …
The Texans had a positive turnover ratio (plus-1) for the eighth time in 12 games. … Houston has already matched its highest
single-season win total (9-7 in 2009).

© 2011 STATS LLC

by

The Associated Press

Associated Press

Atlanta QB Matt Ryan (The Associated Press)

slideshow

FLOWERY BRANCH — Matt Ryan is enjoying a strong recovery from his disappointing slow start to the season.

Ryan, the Falcons’ fourth-year quarterback who was coming off his first Pro Bowl season, appeared to be having a career setback when he threw six interceptions in Atlanta’s disappointing 2-3 start.

The Falcons, bolstered by improved stability on their offensive line, have won five of six as Ryan has been on a roll. He has nine TD passes and only two interceptions the last four weeks.

Ryan was especially sharp in last week’s win over Minnesota. He threw three TD passes with no interceptions.

He had a season-high passer rating (128.3) and completed 27 of 34 passes for 262 yards for the second-highest completion percentage (79.4) of his career.

Ryan’s resurgence is good news for the playoff hopes of the Falcons (7-4), who play at Houston on Sunday.Atlanta is No. 6 in the NFC playoff standings.

“He’s getting into a hot rhythm right now,” running back Michael Turner said Wednesday. “That’s what you want to do. That’s what you want out of your quarterback and every player, constant improvement, and he’s been doing that. Hopefully he doesn’t slow down anytime soon.”

Ryan threw six interceptions in the 2-3 start. He has thrown only four interceptions in the Falcons’ 5-1 recovery.

He said he still isn’t happy with his overall totals of 18 TD passes — tied for eighth in the league — and 10 interceptions.

“I think there are things I can certainly do better, that’s for sure,” Ryan said. “I think we’ve turned the football over a little too much. That’s an area we’d like to clean that up. There have been some things we’ve done well, too. My goal is always to get better week to week, year to year and I think I’ve continued to move in that direction.”

One key for Ryan’s improvement may be newfound stability on the offensive line.

Center Todd McClure missed three of the first five games while recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery. Will Svitek took over at left tackle for Sam Baker in late October and will make his sixth straight start against the Texans.

Coach Mike Smith said Wednesday Baker had surgery on his back in the Falcons’ Oct. 30 bye week and “is fighting very hard to get back.”

Baker had surgery in his 2008 rookie season to repair a herniated disk.

Meanwhile, Garrett Reynolds and Joe Hawley have alternated at right guard, with Hawley starting the last four games.

The patchwork offensive line wasn’t good for Ryan’s health.

Ryan was sacked 13 times in the first three games — an alarming total for a player whose career high was 23 sacks in 16 games last season. He has had better protection with only four sacks in the last four games.

“Continuity is very important on the offensive line,” Smith said.

“Our quarterback has been very efficient throwing the football, but for the quarterback to be efficient he has to have time and has to be able to be on his spot to be where he is supposed to be, and I think we’ve done a good job. I think the numbers say it, not only in the number of sacks we’ve given up, but in the efficiency we’ve thrown the football over the last five weeks.”

Svitek (6-6, 308), a sixth-round pick by Kansas City in 2005, is in his third season with Atlanta. The former defensive end at Stanford said he’s happy to finally have a full-time position after playing a backup role at guard and tackle.

Svitek has the responsibility of protecting Ryan’s blind side.

“It’s definitely a big responsibility,” Svitek said. “You take a lot of pride in keeping Matt clean and keeping him safe. It’s definitely a challenge every week.”

Ryan shrugged when asked Wednesday if he feels he is in a zone.

“I don’t worry too much about that kind of stuff,” he said. “I think offensively we still have a lot of areas to improve and that’s our focus week to week. That’s where my focus is every week, trying to be consistent and I think we’ve been a little more consistent the last two or three weeks.”

NOTES:

CB Brent Grimes will have what Smith said is a “minor” surgery on his right knee Thursday and will miss at least two weeks. Smith said another CB, Kelvin Hayden, is “probably very doubtful” after missing the Minnesota game with a toe injury. Chris Owens or Dominique Franks likely will start for Grimes. Smith said CB Darrin Walls likely will be active for the first time this season. … LB Stephen Nicholas (quadriceps) missed practice and may return later in the week. … WR Julio Jones (hamstring) and Turner (groin) also were held out.